Robinson has added wire strike protection provisions to its R66 options list. Available only on R66 helicopters, the provisions are FAA certified and allow for easy, bolt-on installation of Magellan’s WSPS (Wire Strike Protection System) sold separately by Magellan Aerospace, Winnipeg, Canada.

Robinson provisions add seven pounds to the empty weight of the helicopter and include reinforcement and attach points on the windshield bow, roof, and chin, with low-profile deflectors near the ground handling ball and forward landing gear struts. The system retails for $4,200. An elk brought down a helicopter that was attempting to capture it last week in Wasatch County, UT when it jumped into the aircraft's tail rotor, according to the Wasatch County Sheriff's Office. The aircraft, a Hughes 369D, was flying at an altitude of about 10 feet in a mountainous region of eastern Utah, attempting to drop a net on the animal. The Texas-based helicopter crew intended to capture and sedate the animal in order to place a tracking collar on it. GAMA and NATA have joined a number of aviation advocacy organizations opposing the proposal in President Trump's budget that would shift control of ATC from the FAA to a private entity. “The U.S. has the safest, most efficient, most technically advanced system in
the world. Many other countries around the world utilize airspace system modernization technologies and procedures that the FAA designed and implemented," said GAMA president and CEO Pete Bunce. All this -- and MORE in today's episode of Airborne!!!

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